Redwall is a television series made by Canada-based
Nelvana and France-based Alphanim and is based on the Redwall novels by Brian
Jacques. The series currently spans three seasons, the first based on the first
book Redwall, the second on Mattimeo and the third on Martin the Warrior. The
series airs on some PBS channels in the USA, and used to air on Teletoon in
Canada on Saturday. It has been dubbed into the Māori and Hebrew language.
The plot
Redwall
A young mouse named Matthias is living at Redwall
Abbey. Reminiscing on his past life, he remembers how his family was very poor.
During a particularly harsh winter, an army of Rats, led by Cluny the Scourge,
attack his village. Separated from his family, Matthias saw Cluny just before
he is rescued by his sister and, with advice from voles, travel to Redwall
Abbey, with the memory of Cluny still fresh in their minds. After difficult
travels, Matthias' sister collapses, and Matthias follows soon after. When he
comes to he finds that he has been brought to Redwall Abbey, where the fathers
of the abbey later inform him that his sister died from exhaustion from the
journey. Matthias is then raised in the abbey as a novice, yet dreams of
becoming a great warrior like Martin, the warrior-mouse that helped found
Redwall. When he joins Constance the Badger on escorting some woodlanders from
a feast at the Abbey, he is shocked when he spots Cluny and his rats marching
onto Redwall, taking a nearby church as their main base. Cluny and his captains
go to Redwall, claiming to be travelers until they are inside, when Cluny make
his demands clear. In a fit of rage, Matthias attacks them, telling them
exactly what he thinks of them. Cluny and his captains are forced to leave when
Constance threatens to kill them if they do not leave. When he was forced
outside, Cluny instructs his only climber, the ninja-esque Shadow, to steal the
image of Martin from the tapestry to reduce Redwall's morale. Shadow succeeds,
but is intercepted by Matthias, and falls to his death from the walls. Cluny
then takes the image of Martin as his war-standard. However, Cluny has
nightmares about Martin and Matthias for as long as the tapestry is in his
possession. This is soon remedied when Matthia's friends ,Jess Squirrel and
Basil Stag Hare, steals the tapestry back.
After a number of battles, Matthias is busily
looking for Martin's sword, theorizing that they could drive Cluny away if they
find it. With old Methuselah the abbey recorder and Cornflower (a young mouse
who Matthias is close friends with), they discover that Matthias is to be the next
Abbey warrior, like Martin before him. Through a riddle they find under the
tapestry, they discover Martin's tomb underneath a set of stone stairs, and
there they find Martin's shield and sword-belt. Next, Matthias finds Martin's
sheath in the roost of the Sparra, a tribe of savage sparrows living in the
roofspaces, ruled by the insane King Bull Sparra. Matthias steals the sheath
from the Sparra, and kills Bull Sparra in the process, and befriending a young
Sparrow named Warbeak. However, he learns that the sword was taken from the
Sparra by Asmodeus, a huge snake, and on a journey to find information,
Matthias meets the Guerrilla Shrews, a tribe of argumentative shrews who tell
him to speak to Captain Snow for information. Snow tell him that Asmodeus lives
in a nearby quarry, but mocks Matthias for thinking he could stand a chance
against the snake. In fact, he bets Matthias that if he gets the sword, he will
give up eating mice (and shrews), as well as apologising to Julian Gingivere, a
vegetarian cat who used to be friends with Snow, until he banned Snow from his
home because of his manners and taste in food. Matthias, after briefly
returning to the Abbey, sets off on an expedition to find the sword, with help
from the Guosim. They follow Asmodeus to the large quarry. There, Matthias
finds the sword, and in a fierce battle with the snake, decapitates him.
Meanwhile, Cornflower has discovered Martin's old battle-armour in an abbey
attic.
Throughout this period, Cluny has been using
various tactics to try to take over Redwall, including tunnelling in, using a
battering ram, blackmailing a spice-merchant dormouse to kidnap Cornflower as
ransom, burning the gates, using a siege tower, and sneaking his soldiers in
with a local circus who are visiting. Every single time the rats fail, and
Cluny begins to show signs that he may be going insane.
While Matthias is away gathering more troops to
fight the rats, Cluny forces a dormouse he captured to sneak into Redwall and
open the gates from the inside, and Cluny and his army enter the Abbey at last.
However, Matthias comes back, dressed in Martin's armour, alongside an army of
shrews and sparrows that he has gathered. He finds that Cluny has taken over,
and was about to execute all the Redwallers (starting with Cornflower). The
sight of Matthias dressed as the mouse he saw in his dreams terrifies Cluny,
and he sends his troops against Martin and his army. During the ensuing battle
between Cluny's army and the mixed defenders of Redwall (The Defenders of
Redwall, the Guosim, and the Sparra), Cluny kidnaps Cornflower and hides in the
belltower. When Matthias follows them in, Cluny ambushes him, and a duel
begins, which leads them both up to the top of the belltower. Cluny jumps down
and catches Cornflower again, threatening to kill her if Mathias does not come
down to face him. Mathias swears to, if Cluny releases her. Cluny releases
Cornflower, but Matthias kills Cluny by cutting the bellropes, causing the
Abbey-bell to crash down onto Cluny, killing him instantly.
In the aftermath of the battle, Abbot Mortimer has
been fatally wounded, and about to die. Before he dies, he declares Matthias to
be the Abbey warrior, and that Cornflower will be his wife.
In the epilogue, we see how life in Redwall is back
to normal. The Sparra are now ruled by Warbeak who is a good ruler, and the
Sparra are now friends with the Redwallers. Some of the Guerrilla Shrews have
chosen to stay at Redwall, and have become beekeepers (even learning to speak
to the bees, so they can argue with them). The new abbot is brother Mordalfus,
previously known as brother Alf, who used to run the Abbey Pond. Matthias and
Cornflower are now happily married and have a son, named Mattimeo (which is
somehow short for Matthias Methuselah Mortimer (possibly MATThIas MEthuselah
mOrtimer)). The new Abbey Recorder, John Churchmouse, signs off saying that the
gates of Redwall are always open to travellers, inviting the viewer to visit if
they are ever passing.
Mattimeo
Several seasons after the death of Cluny, Matthias
and Cornflower had a son, Mattimeo. But one night, as the Redwallers were
celebrating, they were interrupted by the masked fox, Slagar the Cruel, who was
previously known as Chickenhound the Fox, who drugs everyone and kidnaps all
children. Matthias, Basil Stag Hare and Jess head out to save them, gaining new
and old allies along the way, such as Orlando the Axe, the Guosim shrews, and
the "Sparra".
Meanwhile, in their absence, things start to go
wrong for Redwall. It comes under attack by ravens, led by General Ironbeak.
The ravens take all of their food and the dormitories, leaving Cavern Hole as
the only free location. However, the Redwallers strike back by using Martin's
armor as a ghost to scare the raven. They later save a mountain bird named
Stryke, who was being harassed and later hurt by the ravens. Eventually,
Ironbeak figures out their little trick after seeing Constance the badger going
to put away Martin's armour. He locks her in a shed and had his troops take
Cavern Hole. Constance is able to break out and save the Redwallers as a newly
recovered Stryke kills Ironbeak. The other ravens leave Redwall.
Matthias and company are able to locate Slagar's
trail to an old buried abbey, Loamhedge, where a cult of rats who worshiped
Malkariss, were enslaving others. The fight ends with the slaves stoning
Malkariss to death and Matthias setting them free. Eventually, they win with
the abbey practically exploding. At the surface, Slagar tries to get back at
Matthias for the death of his mother but ends up falling into the hole from
which he escaped.
Company returns to Redwall with the young ones and
slaves. After seven seasons, things were going peacefully at Redwall. The
slaves of Malkariss and Matthias' companions settled in Redwall. Matthias,
Basil and Orlando began training Redwall's next generation of defenders.
Martin the Warrior
At the same seventh season after Matthias returned,
the Redwallers listen to Tim Churchmouse, who tells the tale of how their hero,
Martin, became the warrior he is known as today. In the lands of the Marshank
coast, the terrible Badrang the Tyrant was increasing his piracy attacks,
forcing Luke the Warrior, Martin's father, to go out to sea to combat the sea rats.
He leaves his son his sword and tells him to never let another creature take
it. Years later, Martin was captured by Badrang and his sword taken. The young
mouse served many years in the fortress of Marshank as a slave. When he defends
an old squirrel named Barkjon, Badrang had him hung outside in the rain with
hungry gulls to peck at him and is later put in the prison pit with Felldoh and
Brome. Meanwhile, Badrang's old shipmate, Tramun Clogg, arrives to take
Marshank. Brome's sister, Laterose and her friend, the mole Grumm, also arrive
and began digging their way into the prison pit while Clogg begins his siege.
The five make it to Clogg's boats and managed to commandeer one. However, the
boat had a hole, flooding it and a raging storm and a fish separated the group.
Martin, Rose and Grumm end up captured by pygmy shrews and meet a hedgehog by
the name of Pallum. After saving Queen Amballa's son, Dinjer, they were free to
go to Noonvale, Rose's home.
Meanwhile, Brome and Felldoh wash up somewhere
else, meeting the Rosehip Players, a traveling circus who agree to help them
free the slaves of Marshank. Managing to win Clogg's amusement, they get inside
Marshank and free most of the slaves. A few days later, Brome disguises himself
as one of the rats to get inside and get the other slaves through the prison
pit's tunnel.
En route to Noonvale, the company make many
friends, such as the Warden of Marshwood Hill and Boldred the owl and enemies
like the uncivilized cannibalistic lizards and the rogue Gawtrybe. With help
from the shrews and otters, they make it to Noonvale but are unable to raise an
army to defeat Badrang. However, many are drawn to Martin's cause, including
the Gawtrybe as he makes his way to Marshank.
Clogg takes his opportunity to capture Marshank
while Badrang was out. However, Badrang knew of the tunnel in the prison pit.
He has Clogg's soldiers swear allegiance to him while Clogg became Marshank's
one man slave operation. Felldoh became obsessed with Marshank's fall that he
began solo attacks against it. When he faced Badrang head-to-head, he was
beaten to death by his minions. It wasn't until Martin arrived with his army
that he forced Badrang into a corner. Martin's army burned down Marshank's
gate, and began their attack. In the confusion, Martin retrieved his father's
sword and slew Badrang with it. Unfortunately, Badrang had stabbed and killed
Rose during the battle. The Fur and Freedom Fighters return to Noonvale, where
it will remain a secret, while Martin continues on his own path.
Principal cast
Redwall
- Matthias - Tyrone Savage
- Cornflower - Alison Pill
- Constance - Janet Wright
- Abbot Mortimer - Chris Wiggins
- Basil Stag Hare - Richard Binsley
- Methuselah - Wayne Robson
- Cluny the Scourge - Diego Matamoros
- Mattimeo
- Slagar the Cruel - Tim Curry
- Mattimeo - Michael Seater
- Matthias - Tyrone Savage
- Cornflower - Melissa McIntyre
- Constance - Janet Wright
- Abbot Mordalfus - John Stocker
- Basil Stag Hare - Richard Binsley
- General Ironbeak - Wayne Best
- Martin the Warrior
- Martin - Amos Crawley
- Rose - Lindsey Connell
- Badrang - Diego Matamoros
- Tramun Clogg - John Stocker
- Grumm - Graham Haley
- Felldoh - Ali Mukaddam
- Brome - Luca Perlman
Redwall is a television series made by Canada-based
Nelvana and France-based Alphanim and is based on the Redwall novels by Brian
Jacques. The series spans three seasons, the first based on the first book
Redwall, the second on Mattimeo and the third on Martin the Warrior. There are
39 episodes in total.
Fourth season ?
On February 27, 2003, one of the supervising directors
of the show (Jocelyn Hamilton), was contacted by fans of the show in regards to
a possible fourth season. Ms. Hamilton replied that they (the producers) are
prepared to produce a fourth season, as the show itself is very popular,
especially well-accepted by fans of the book series, but only if it is
"financially feasible", and at the moment, no American broadcasters
are helping to finance a fourth season.[
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